Letter to the editor: Monique Montgomery

Thank you to The Commercial Dispatch and our supporters that attended the injunction hearing on Friday.

The ruling by the chancellor was clearly in favor of the plaintiff as correctly reported by Jeff Clark. It was ordered that a temporary injunction be issued.

The special judge further admonished the Mayor's Youth Council to implement rules that should be signed by the student members and also by the student's parents. The court specifically asked Brooke Montgomery (my daughter) if she wanted to have the Mayor's Youth Council transport her to Hattiesburg to attend the remainder of the Leadership Conference on Saturday, even though she had missed the half-day session on Friday, Brooke's response was that she had no desire to attend the conference at this point. She also stated that she really wanted the Mayor's Youth Council to just set rules for the group and allow the rules to apply to everyone, not just to her.

A transcript was generated to verify the court's ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

The bottom line is this, when adults have conflict, I believe they should leave innocent children out of it. The court made it clear that this matter should have been resolved by the Mayor and his co-advisors without the need of the plaintiffs filing an injunction.

The co-advisor stated she can remember Brooke Montgomery being late for a meeting because she entered the building "late" with Brooke that very same day.

The judge based his decision on this fact, he simply said, if the advisor admits that she came in late, but there were no ramifications for her tardiness, why is Brooke being penalized and prohibited from attending the leadership conference because of her tardiness. If this were the case, Brooke should have been forgiven and allowed the opportunity to attend the conference just like everybody else.

Making rules as you go is bound to cause problems, especially when you are dealing with an organization funded by the city. Last year, Valerie Morgan chaired the Mayor's Youth Council. Her success was attributed to meetings with student council and their parents along with her judiciousness to providing consistent written rules and guidelines for the entire student council to adhere to.

I have been an advocate for justice for more than 15 years, and I am not about to stop advocating for justice even when my child is being mistreated.

I am so glad that the legal justice system allows us to stand up and fight for what's right even when it's the Mayor's Youth Council who is being unfair. Justice prevails.